Who let the Dawgs in?

Enjoyed a nice, steady stream of visitors Sunday after church - mostly church-folk, obviously, but also a surprise visit from Paul and Steve (who had just been discharged from Mercy Hospital the day before). And then, at the very end of the day, with the permission of the Charge Nurse (and after a bath!) The Adorable Parker made her debut here at the hospital. The last time she saw me I was being carried out of our apartment by four firefighters, and after ten days absence I'm sure she was starting to wonder whether she was ever going to see me again. And even though I know she's been in good hands, it was nice for me to see her again too.

In the greater scheme of things, no real news yet. I will receive my last radiation treatment on Tuesday, and will no doubt be discharged from the hospital shortly after that. The question is, to where? -- I'm still not mobile enough to return to my apartment, and depending upon how well these treatments continue to help me, it could be another month or so before I really see the full benefit of them. So the first step will probably be to some sort of Rehab facility, where I can continue to receive the kinds of personal care and physical therapy I need right now.

My Dad finally returned to California Sunday, after a month of being here with me. His presence has really been indispensible, and it's also been great just to be able to spend so much time together - really more than we have at any time since my childhood. It's really true; the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. An insight which can be both frightening and reassuring in the same moment, and which leaves me feeling both humble and proud.

My formal Installation at First Parish will still take place on Sunday May 4th as scheduled, and the Marshal has organized everything so that I can participate in and complete the entire ceremony in a wheelchair. Kinda like FDR. Likewise, my chemotherapy is still scheduled to begin later this week, once my radiation treatment is completed. Chemo is only a once-a-week treatment: two weeks on and one week off for a total of four to six cycles, which means that it should be completed by the middle of August.

God Willing, I will be feeling healthy enough to return to the pulpit full time for the start of the new church year in September. That's the goal. But that's also still five months away. Plenty of more pressing things to think about in the meantime. It's an awfully big ocean, and an awfully small boat. But I know the course, and I have a great crew, a sound vessel, and a firm hand on the tiller. Now I just need to find my sea legs again....